Allegheny Energy, Inc. owns and operates electric generation facilities, and delivers electric services to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. The company owns or contractually controls coal-, gas-, and oil-fired generation facilities, as well as hydro generation facilities.

As of Dec 2, 2010, this plan investment choice is rated as based on MyPlanIQ Plan Rating methodology that measures the effectiveness of a plan's available investment funds. It has the following detailed ratings:

We have experienced an uncertain 2010: plenty of worries on whether the US economy will climb out of the great recession and recover.

The Federal Reserve embarked on Quantitative Easing II (QE2) to stimulate the economy.

The housing market is still at its low but largely stabilized.

The unemployment rate is stuck at 9%.

Americans continue to face an uncertain future, given (among others) the high unemployment rate, large federal and local government debts and global trade imbalance. With such an economic backdrop, the stock and debt markets are going to be volatile. Despite this, markets have been resilient and appear positioned to rebound.

In this market it is even more critical to properly diversify and respond market changes. MyPlanIQ offers two asset allocation strategies: strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies ( SAA and TAA for participants in ALLEGHENY ENERGY EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP AND SAVINGS PLAN).

Strategic Asset Allocation is based on well known modern portfolio theory and its key features include: diversification, proper fund selection and periodically re-balancing.

Tactical Asset Allocation works on a diversified array of assets provided by funds in a plan and adjusts asset mixes based on market conditions such as asset price momentum utilized by TAA.

Portfolio Discussions

The chart and table below show the historical performance of moderate model portfolios employing strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies. For comparison purpose, we also include the moderate model portfolios of a typical 3 asset SIB (Simpler Is Better) plan . This SIB plan has the following candidate index funds and their ETFs equivalent: